Dumbarton were finally able to celebrate a decade at Strathclyde Homes Stadium when Stenhousemuir visited the ground on 15th January after being kept waiting for more than a month to mark the occasion because of the arctic weather.
Unfortunately for home fans, the Warriors kicked the ball off their own goal-line deep into injury time and 10 seconds later, scored the only goal of the game at the other end to keep the Sons at the foot of the Second Division. However, it is only correct to celebrate the 10 years that Dumbarton Football Club have been playing at G82 1JJ.
Whilst players and Managers have come and gone in the past decade, one man has remained constant at ‘The Rock’ and that is the club’s Programme Editor, Graeme Robertson, and he talked the SFL Newsletter through the ten years.
For the past two decades, Robertson has been responsible for ‘The Sons View’ and he has produced 202 issues for games at the new ground and 233 for matches played at the club’s previous home of Boghead.
Robertson said: “I will soon have been responsible for over half of the programmes that the club have ever produced as I have done 435 out of the 897 that have ever been issued.”
The first game at Strathclyde Homes Stadium took place on 2nd December, 2000 when the Sons recorded a 3-0 win over Elgin City and Robertson, who lives in Edinburgh, regularly bumps into the man who scored the first of 547 goals scored at the ground.
It seems fitting that the goal was scored by one of the game’s characters with Robertson saying: “Paddy Flannery, who was a real goalscoring poacher and a larger than life figure at the club, notched the first goal after playing one of the longest one-two passes with Andy Brown that I have ever seen.
“He went on to have a long career in the Juniors after leaving us and I bump into him in Edinburgh occasionally. He is proud of all the goals he scored in his career and he is really proud of that one.”
Robertson was asked how it felt to follow the club through the transition from one ground to another and he said: “At the time, you obviously do not want to move from the home you are in and for us, that was Boghead.
“Fans are now attached to Stratchclyde Homes Stadium and it has far greater facilities than Boghead had.
“The new stadium is ours and is situated right next to the Rock in Dumbarton so it is very much still in the town.
“In my opinion, it is the team that you support and not the ground. Provided clubs move within the same town, fans will go along with it.”
During their stay at Strathclyde Homes Stadium, Dumbarton have enjoyed two promotions, employed seven Managers including caretakers, and have a home record of:-
Played 202, Won 92, Drawn 43 and Lost 67, scoring 308 goals and conceding 239.
Thirty different sides have provided the opposition to Dumbarton including Gretna and Clydebank, who have since dropped out of the senior ranks with Highland League Forres Mechanics the only non SFL side to play there, going down 4-1 in a Scottish Cup tie.
Hamilton Academical are the only current SPL side to have played a competitive game at Dumbarton and one other notable statistic during the decade is that out of the 308 goals that Dumbarton have scored there, the 100th, 200th and 300th goals have all been penalties to open the scoring.
Robertson was asked to nominate some favourites from the games at the ground, starting with the best Dumbarton performance during that time.
He advised: “When we defeated Elgin City 6-0 the week before we won the Third Division Championship two seasons ago, that win virtually clinched the League for us, so it was a great day and we played fabulously well and scored some great goals.
“All in all, it was a great performance and made winning the Third Division Championship at Annan the following week a bit of a formality.”
Robertson was asked who his favourite player had been during the period that the club have been located at Strathclyde Homes Stadium and he advised: “Club legend, Craig Brittain, who was our left back for many seasons and is now with Beith Juniors.”
“He always worked hard and you could tell he enjoyed playing for the club. He received a well deserved Testimonial against Rangers in 2006.
“He arrived into senior football late at the age of 21 or 22 from Ashfield Juniors and perhaps that explains why he had the attitude he had.
“I remember Aberdeen Manager Roy Aitken asking for more details about him after we played them in a League Cup tie.”
And what about the best team that have played at Strathclyde Homes Stadium during the past 10 years?
Robertson was in no doubt and said: “The team that won the title under Jim Chapman in season 2008/09 stands out obviously and not just for being a great team but for being a great bunch of guys as well.
“I got to know a lot of them and, of course, they were led by Gordon Lennon who was really liked by everyone behind the scenes here.”
Lennon died shortly after the League was won in an accident and Robertson had to put together a programme when the League campaign started again that captured the magic that Lennon’s smile brought to the club.
Robertson said: “When I started on the programme 20 years ago, I never thought I would have had to write about the passing of a current player. It was something I never expected to write about and I still wish I never had to write about it but compared to what other people were going through, my experience was nothing.
“Gordon’s family were devastated as was Jim Chapman, as he was his friend as well as his Manager.”
After pre-season friendlies and cup ties had been played, the edition of the Match Programme containing tributes to Gordon Lennon was issued on the day that the Third Division Championship Flag was unfurled at Strathclyde Homes Stadium by the defender’s family.
Robertson added: “It seemed the right time to do it when we played Alloa as he was a big part of Dumbarton winning the Third Division and his family were involved in raising the flag.”
Lennon was undoubtedly a big character during the Sons stay at their new home and Robertson was asked about other players that added a bit more than the usual flair when playing for the club.
“Paddy, of course, was a big character,” said Robertson before adding, “and a couple of the boys about just now are characters both on the football pitch and the golf course.
“Andy Geggan and Iain Chisholm have great footballing ability but they are also pretty formidable golfers. We have an Annual Golf Day at Glencorse Golf Club where one of our fans, Cliff Jones, is the professional and they are certainly loud that day.
“Our goalkeeper, Stephen Grindlay, is another big golfer.
Robertson was then asked about the best goals scored at Strathclyde Homes Stadium. He said: “As for great goals, we have scored a few including all four of the goals that we hit against Alloa this week.
“Two of them were great strikes and two of them were great moves and that was probably the best collection of goals we have scored in the one game.”
And what is his best memory during the first 10 years at Strathclyde Homes Stadium?
He said: “It has to be the party at the ground after winning the League at Annan. The IRN-BRU open topped bus was there as were guys playing bagpipes and thankfully, it had stopped pouring after a day of torrential rain.
“It was a great time summed up by goalkeeper David McEwan sitting in a puddle in the middle of the pitch with his club tracksuit on holding the Third Division Championship Trophy. He had the biggest smile on his face as well and that kind of summed up that day.
Robertson finished off by summarising the first decade at Strathclyde Homes Stadium and said: “The ten years at Strathclyde Homes Stadium has been a roller coaster where we have experienced promotion parties, a League Championship win and also relegation.
“It is the same at any club in the Second and Third Divisions as you have joy and you have disappointment but we have also had a tragedy to deal with.”
“It is not going too well this season but I am still hoping that we can move up the table.”
As well as the ups and downs of being a football fan, Robertson has to balance the books when it comes to producing a match programme.
It is not an easy task as he explains: “It is always a fine balance between income and the cost of producing a programme. It is tough to keep it going as our programme is produced by the Supporters Trust and it cannot lose money as that would affect the support the Trust can provide the club with.”
“The weather just now is really hurting us as games are getting postponed and if they are not arranged quickly, you may have to produce another programme which means you have a whole batch of unsold ones. We sometimes do an update insert however, lower crowds at midweek games also usually mean lower programme sales.”
Robertson added: “By and large, the programme is well received and only once have we made a horrific mistake in it. All I can say is that the player broke a bone in his leg, nothing else!”
One of Robertson’s favourite memories actually comes from the game that officially opened the stadium when Rangers came calling. A feat was achieved that night that has never been repeated with Robertson explaining the role that Dutchman Ronald de Boer played in the decade of history at Strathclyde Homes Stadium.
Robertson recalls: “He hit a shot that night that cleared the bar, the fence behind the goal, the rough land that sits outside the fence and cleared the rocks that lead down to the River Leven. It is a huge distance and he remains the only player that has put the ball into the water.”
As for visitors yet to arrive at Dumbarton’s home, Robertson yearns for Liverpool to turn up, Kenny Dalglish et al, to play his beloved Sons.
He said: “I have a huge soft spot for them as they were my English team when I was growing up in the 70s. I would love them to come here and be able to do a programme for that game.
“The closest we have come was Middlesbrough in the summer of 2009 and they were fantastic visitors.”
Led by then Manager Gareth Southgate, 22 players took to the field against Dumbarton and another famous line in the history in the near 139-year-old club was made that night.
Robertson explained: “There had already been six substitutions for Middlesbrough when Southgate decided to bring on five more at the same time.
“Our match announcer, Jim McAllister, gave up and said: ‘A whole lot of guys have come on and a whole lot of guys have gone off!’ Even the Middlesbrough fans enjoyed that one,” joked Robertson.
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